Due to hit stores as soon as June, 2013, Toshiba has jumped back onto the Win8 tablet market with a new model — the WT310 — that appears to target the Microsoft Surface Pro directly. The unit is described as being “optimized for business use” by Toshiba (PC Advisor, 5/2/13) and includes the Intel Anti-Theft and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) hardware security features.

Although it looks a lot like the Surface Pro, it’s a little bit lighter and includes a few more features, too.

Otherwise, the specs sound remarkably similar to those for the Microsoft Surface Pro including:

11.6″ 1980×1020 Full HD touch display with Intel HD Graphics 4000

an ultralow-voltage i5 Intel processor like the i5-3317U found in the Surface Pro

a digitizer pen stylus

SSD storage, probably 128 and/or 256 GB

USB 3.0 port (at least one, possibly two)

micro-HDMI for graphics and audio output

SD card slot (probably SDXC capable, to support up to 128 GB of added high-speed solid-state storage, and more as bigger cards become available into 2014)

SIM card for 4G HSPA+/LTE WWLAN support

The various stories I’ve found don’t say so specifically, but I’m guessing with some degree of confidence that these units will include 802.11 b/g/n and Bluetooth wireless modules as well (the PC Advisor story already cited also states that the unit will include Wi-Di support as well)

A docking cradle will also be available to provide additional USB ports and GbE wired Ethernet

There’s no information available yet about battery life nor about pricing, either. But so far, this is one of the most interesting current-Intel-generation processor Windows 8 tablets I’ve seen. I’m curious why Toshiba is coming to market with this unit so late in the game, and have to wonder why they just didn’t wait to release a Haswell-based model later this year, presumably with more CPU and graphics power and improved battery life. I’m hoping I get a chance to check this puppy out, nevertheless!

By submitting you agree to receive email from TechTarget and its partners. If you reside outside of the United States, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.
Privacy

Processing your reply...

There was an error processing your information. Please try again later.

By submitting you agree to receive email from TechTarget and its partners. If you reside outside of the United States, you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.
Privacy